Saquon Barkley leads Eagles to important NFC East win, offseason signing is home run for Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA — With 7 minutes, 46 seconds left in the third quarter, Saquon Barkley saw a wild hit from Bobby Wagner.

So the Philadelphia Eagles running back leaked into the space the linebacker ran away from, and an easy checkdown awaited Jalen Hurts if he chose to use it.

It looked like there would be some profit. Then Washington Commanders safety Percy Butler missed a tackle. Suddenly, the Eagles’ offseason marquee signing was a 43-yard gain.

Philadelphia has yet to break a touchdown drought that will soon reach three quarters. Additionally, the Eagles were unable to hold a lead in any of the first three quarters of their NFC East matchup against the Washington Commanders.

But the dam was fraying. And soon it will burst.

Riding Barkley’s 198 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns, the Eagles defeated a rising Washington team 26-18 on Thursday night. Philadelphia has a head-to-head win over the closest opponent in the division, improves to 8-2, and is firmly in control of its path to the playoffs.

No one in Philadelphia, including Barkley, believes the Eagles’ success this time around, and their success so far in 2024, is solely due to the longtime running back for the New York Giants, who revived his career in Philadelphia. I haven’t thought about it. But with Barkley recording his sixth 100-yard rushing game of the season (tying the record for the previous four seasons combined) and leading the NFL with 1,137 rushing yards, it was built to propel running backs. Everyone agrees that this Eagles team has benefited. His service will be greatly appreciated.

There are too many weapons for the enemy to stop all four quarters. Barkley is a key component of this venomous attack.

“He did a good job today,” Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said. “We’ve been talking a lot about how we’re multiple beings and we’re taking multiple approaches. It might look different. So as a football team, we’ve talked about how these things look different. I think we can continue to diversify in terms of efficiency by accepting that and how we can be successful and how we can accumulate points and be successful.”

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman did not review his roster this offseason, deciding that extensions for receivers AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith would give him a free pass to strengthen the run game. . Nor did Roseman think his persistently strong offensive line would lead any bell cow to success.

Roseman did something that is rarely done and signed a talented but aging running back from a division rival when the Giants didn’t want to pay him that much. Going against league trends at this position has paid off.

“Thank you, everyone, New York,” Eagles cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson said. “Shout out New York. Other than that, Sa(quon) has been really great to us.”

Coaches held off the Eagles for three quarters until the tide turned.

At halftime, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni faced reality for his team.

Philadelphia converted just three of 11 third-down attempts. Kicker Jake Elliott missed field goal attempts from 44 and 51 yards. That meant their 174 yards of offense amounted to just three points.

“Actually, what we talked about at halftime was, ‘Hey, this is going to be a dirty, gritty game,'” Sirianni said. “Just keep going. We know we’re dirty and gritty. We know our team is dirty and gritty.

“This is a street fight, and it’s not about who’s tougher, it’s about who’s tougher for longer.”

This message applied to multiple phases of the team. But Barkley was mindful of what that could mean on a day when the run game stalled at times.

He was more intentional about when to tighten up and when to hit outside. When was the last time you had a strategy a block away from an explosive play? Also, when was the last time you needed to make a different read downhill?Late in the third quarter and into the fourth, the Eagles started to show their toughness for longer periods of time.

The Eagles had a field goal after Barkley’s 43-yard gash, but Philadelphia’s defense allowed just one first down before forcing a punt. Hurts started the fourth quarter with a change of pace as running back Kenneth Gainwell completed a pass to Barkley for 14 yards and then another 13 yards. Barkley returned to the game and led the Eagles from near the left end to the 1-yard line, where the Hurts entered the end zone.

The Eagles finally scored their first touchdown with 12 minutes remaining in the game, taking their first lead at 12-10. But can they keep it up?

Philadelphia almost killed a chance when Dallas Goedert spat the ball away, but fellow tight end Grant Calcaterra recovered the fumble. Two plays later, Barkley’s blocker left a gaping hole. He curved around the right edge for a 23-yard touchdown.

And after the safety, would Reed Blankenship have intercepted Washington’s Jaden Daniels on the first play of the next drive?

The Eagles handed the ball to Barkley two more times, and Barkley cut and bounced for a 39-yard touchdown on his 26th carry of the night.

“We were putting up a lot of rushing yards and getting a lot of respect,” Barkley said. “That’s going to be the team’s mindset going into the game. We’re going to try not to do that,” because once the running game starts, it’s kind of hard to beat teams.

“You could stop us for 20-odd carriers, but we steal two long carriers when it matters most. The stats seem pretty good, and we often get wins.” You can.”

Berkeley has a chance to reach uncharted territory in Philadelphia.

Barkley knows what it’s like to add to the box score but ultimately not win games, and perhaps his fantasy value.

As a rookie in 2018, he scored 15 touchdowns and led the league with 2,028 yards from scrimmage. The Giants won just five games.

In 2019, Barkley again rushed for 1,441 yards and eight scores, but this time in just 13 games. The Giants won four games this year.

And in 2022, New York’s only playoff campaign in Barkley’s six-year tenure, his 1,650 yards and 10 touchdowns catapulted a 9-7 team to an upset of the Minnesota Vikings in the wild-card round. They were then eliminated in the divisional round. 7, to my current employer in Philadelphia.

Barkley watched the Eagles advance to the Super Bowl a few weeks later, and knew then what he knows now: Philadelphia is hoping for a strong run in the postseason. That’s realistic for the Eagles, who have made two Super Bowl appearances in the past decade.

All of those words are long-winded. Sorry Barkley for not unduly praising the Eagles’ 8-2 record, even though that included more wins than all but one of his six years in New York. .

“You can’t win a trophy in the middle of the season,” Barkley said. “We must continue.”

His teammates echoed those expectations.

Hurts talked about how the team will “make the most of everything we have and continue to build.” Gardner-Johnson was more clear that he expects and needs the Eagles to earn a guaranteed playoff berth in the division.

“You know who runs this department. No disrespect,” Gardner-Johnson said. “(Washington) is a great team, but we know what’s going to happen. We know what we have to do.

“This is not a diss or attack on anyone. You just have to understand. Hold what’s rightfully yours. Just keep playing ball.”